Military
The Royal Navy’s drone squadron have taken their expertise in uncrewed systems one step further by building their own quadcopter. Personnel from 700X Naval Air Squadron have built their first remotely-piloted air system in a milestone moment for the Culdrose-based team. Once thoroughly put through its paces, the drone
Propulsion
A team of researchers in northwest China says it has developed a way to use high-energy laser beams, not to destroy drones but to keep them in the air “forever”. Many countries, including China, are developing powerful laser systems as anti-drone weapons. But Professor Li Xuelong and his colleagues from
Ukraine has bought some 1,400 drones, mostly for reconnaissance, and plans to develop combat models that can attack the exploding drones Russia has used during its invasion of the country, according to the Ukrainian government minister in charge of technology. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Minister
Accidents
On January 4, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that one of its drones crashed in the northern part of the Palestinian West Bank region. A statement by the IDF said that the drone, a Skylark, was on a reconnaissance mission when it fell out of the sky for as-yet-unknown
Regulations
Percepto, an autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider, announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed operators to use Percepto’s drone-in-a-box solution to perform highly automated Beyond Visual Line of Sight (HA BVLOS) inspection and monitoring operations at a large Texas solar power plant. The drone operations are
Walmart’s drone delivery program is soaring into the new year, having successfully completed its intended expansion plans for 2022. The company now operates, with its vendors, 36 drone delivery hubs across seven states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia. “I’m incredibly proud of our
Business
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $26,373,756 modification (P00012) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00014-19-C-1032 for Triton electronic protection enhancements. The total cumulative value of this contract is $41,736,826. Under this modification, the contractor will continue to work to further develop and demonstrate
Testing
On Nov. 10, 2022, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew the first production MQ-9A Multi-Domain Operations (M2DO)-ready variant of the U.S. Air Force MQ-9A Reaper. This upgraded version of the MQ-9A Block 5 remotely piloted aircraft, also known as a the “-25,” includes key features that will
Military
As part of the Army of Drones project, the government authorities of Ukraine have purchased 1,577 drones, 928 of which have already been handed over to the defenders of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has said. "As part of the project, the Ministry
SwissDrones, a global manufacturer of long-range uncrewed helicopter systems for inspection, surveillance and public safety applications, announced that it has secured additional 7-figure funding in a round led by DiamondStream Partners, an aviation and aerospace venture capital firm, with participation from existing investors. SwissDrones plans to use the funding to
Weapons Systems / Lasers
Lithuania’s Defence Materiel Agency has signed a contract last week for the acquisition of the Switchblade 600 combat drones from the US government, the Defence Ministry said. “We are the first country in the world, after the US itself, to acquire the Switchblade 600,” he added. “These combat drones
Military
China's People's Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, appears to have put an unusual catamaran drone mini-carrier into service as part of an experimental naval training force. [ In May 2021 we reported that China looks to have launched an odd mini-aircraft carrier of sorts that is intended